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Just a bunch or random thoughts from inside my head:
[*] No, you won't find me there. Sorry.
[**] Not quite as pretty as the one day old moon was last night, but I didn't post about it then. Sue me.
[***] Though, in the interest of fairness, I should say that I have not had good Chinese food -- or any Mexican food -- since leaving the States.
[****] That's fancy talk for English church bell ringing.
- Just after sunset tonight, look to the Western sky[*]. The two day old sliver of a crescent moon is hovering nearby Venus. Very pretty![**] Trust me, you'll like it! Clouds permitting, of course...
- Yet another culinary advantage to living in the United Kingdom is Galaxy Minstrels. Picture M&Ms done right. Damn, but these things are good! Real Cadbury chocolate is another advantage on the chocolate front, and this is the time of year when their creme eggs are plentiful. Okay, ever since New Years is the time of year when their creme eggs are plentiful... but you get the idea. We have real cheese over here in Europe, too[***].
- Latest reading material -- besides the stack of comic books that
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cheshcat brought back from the States! -- is The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy Sayers. It is a murder mystery with a large theme of campanology[****] permeating the story. I am glad that I waited to read this, as my increased knowledge of bell ringing gives me a greater appreciation for what is going on in the book. Still don't understand all the terms being used, but I get most of them. Next up on the reading list is a return to Shakespeare, with King Richard II kicking off the War of the Roses saga. - I get paid once per month, on the pen-ultimate working day of each month. When I received my February paycheck, I was surprised to see that it was slightly higher than I had expected. Apparently, I got a 1% raise, effective February 1st. Not sure why -- annual raises are given in October and I'd imagine a cost-of-living adjustment would be more likely to happen with the start of the fiscal year on April 1st, rather than in February. Still, with the ridiculously high cost of living in Oxford, I will take it. With that raise, the total increase in my salary during my first ten months on this job is 102/3%. Not too shabby. If one converts to dollars, thus factoring in the rise in value of the pound sterling versus the dollar, that raise jumps to 14.3% over what I was earning one year ago at Fermilab; however, that is mainly just a calculation for the sake of amusement. Whereas extra pounds in my pocket can actually help us get by...
- Hilary Term ended two weeks ago, so my weeknights are much more open now. No OUSCR practices and maybe no board game club right now. I should review my long "to-do" list, as well as the list of goals for 2007. I should be able to find something productive to do with that extra evening time. Of course, my upcoming trip to Italy will eat up a couple of the out-of-term weeks, but I should still be able to scratch a few items off my lists before Trinity Term begins in late April.
[*] No, you won't find me there. Sorry.
[**] Not quite as pretty as the one day old moon was last night, but I didn't post about it then. Sue me.
[***] Though, in the interest of fairness, I should say that I have not had good Chinese food -- or any Mexican food -- since leaving the States.
[****] That's fancy talk for English church bell ringing.
